


Slow

by HopeCoppice



Series: Same Earth [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: I never meant to ship this but now it has my heart, M/M, Same Earth AU, supply closet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-03 02:04:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6592246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeCoppice/pseuds/HopeCoppice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry Allen may be the fastest man alive, but some things can't be rushed. And Winn, well, he may be just a little slow on the uptake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow

**Author's Note:**

> Mad ship of madness. I did start a bigger, deeper fic, but a combination of computer troubles and massive angst-invasion mean that I gave up and did this one first. It's fluffy! I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> First fic in this fandom, so please be gentle!
> 
> Spoilers up to the Flash crossover episode of Supergirl, I suppose. Though not many.

So, there's a new superhero on the scene.

Alright, not new exactly. It's the Flash, and who hasn't heard of the Flash? The answer to that question is Kara, as it turns out, but she teams up with him happily enough after he speeds to Chicago and brings her ice cream. Well, he brings them all ice cream, actually. Winn's not sure what to make of that. Not that there's anything wrong with bringing Winn ice cream - if he ever complains about being given ice cream, he's being held hostage and trying to let someone know - but somehow he'd never imagined the Flash as someone who fetched ice cream for strangers.

Barry Allen wasn't what he'd expected at all. He'd always assumed that most heroes were a bit stuck up, that Kara was some sort of sweet, kind exception, but she and Barry had a lot in common.   
"You know, my friend Cisco would really like you." Too much, in fact. Like never really noticing him.   
"You don't?"   
"What? No, I just mean... Well, I don't really understand all that complicated stuff you're doing there. But I bet Cisco would be impressed, and he'd actually get it."   
"Oh. Well, it's just a basic program to pull Supergirl-related stories directly from the CatCo system and store them securely on their own server. Cat's orders."   
"And this bit here?" Barry pointed at the screen.   
"I thought you didn't understand it."   
"Well, no, not really, but I can see you've got two coding windows open..."   
"Alright, yeah, that one discreetly copies the results to another server. Er, mine. I might make Kara a scrapbook- and, er, for mission reasons and stuff.”   
“Oh, yeah, of course. Mission reasons. Absolutely. I get that.” Barry smiled at him. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sure she’d be thrilled with a scrapbook. Maybe I should make myself one.”   
Winn rolled his eyes at that. “Wouldn’t that be a bit sad?” He could have kicked himself the moment he’d said it, but Barry didn’t seem to mind.   
“Ha. Yeah, it would. Anyway, I should go - your boss is glaring at me and even I can’t run away fast enough. See you later?”   
“Yeah, sure, I’m usually around.” He waited until Barry had gone, then added a new parameter to his more discreet program.

  
_ \+ “The Flash” _

* * *

 

Barry had helped Kara beat Livewire and Silver Banshee - as everybody kept calling Siobhan now she’d gone off the rails - and then sped off back to his own city to deal with some sort of urgent crisis without even coming back to the office. Winn wasn’t disappointed, obviously, he just thought it was kinda rude.

“He had another city to save, Winn,” Kara pointed out when he grumbled about it to her. “If anything, I was rude for not going with him. Anyway, why would he come back here?”

_ Why indeed _ , Winn seethed, although he had to admit that she made some excellent points.

 

It was a surprise, then, when Winn found himself working late two weeks later. Well, working late wasn’t a surprise - working later than  _ Kara  _ was, but Cat had taken her out to some function somewhere, so he had the office to himself - but the big surprise of the evening was when Barry sped into the office in his full Flash costume, mumbling something about computers and how he needed Winn’s help. Winn did all he could, and eventually Barry declared himself satisfied.

“Oh, and can you print out that code for me?” Winn did, and was rewarded with a  _ very  _ nice view as the Flash bent over the printer and reached to catch the sheet. It was an incredibly tight costume, and Winn had never been so grateful for another man’s fashion choices. 

“You’re  _ awesome _ , thanks Winn.” Then he sped off as quickly as he had arrived, and it never even occurred to Winn until much later, as he lay in bed feeling hot and frustrated, that Barry could have just asked Cisco for whatever help he needed.

 

The thought that Barry had chosen  _ him  _ didn’t help to ease his frustration at all.

* * *

Barry started dropping by National City more often, after that - not just to help Kara, who didn’t often need the help anyway, but sometimes just to grab a coffee and spend some time being slow.

“It’s pretty full-on, being responsible for a whole city’s safety,” he confided to Winn on one of the surprisingly frequent occasions when everyone else was busy. “I mean, there’s a lot of pressure. It’s nice to get away from all that for a bit and just relax with a good friend.”

“Yeah.”  _ Friend.  _ He could have punched the air. He  _ mattered  _ to Barry - though why that should feel so important, he didn’t know. “It’s pretty good to get out of the office, too.”

“Exactly. All those computers breaking all the time, that must be intense.” Winn raised an eyebrow.

“Are you teasing me? I mean, it’s not exactly saving a city.”

“Oh, if I was teasing you, you’d know about it.” Barry was laughing as he said it. “No, but seriously. Your boss scares the hell out of me. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Ah, mostly I keep my head down and hope she doesn’t notice me. As long as everything keeps running OK, she doesn’t really care.”

“Yeah, but how often does  _ that  _ happen these days?”

 

Later, as they prepared to go back to their respective places of work, Barry put a hand on Winn’s arm.

“Hey, you should come by Central City some time. Add me on Facebook and we’ll sort something out.” Then he was gone, leaving Winn wanting nothing less than to go back to work.

 

* * *

Winn hadn’t thought much about Barry’s invitation to add him on Facebook. Honestly, he’d assumed Barry was just being polite. So when a friend request popped up from  _ Barry Allen (no mutual friends) _ , he couldn’t help but wonder why. After all, it looked like he hadn’t even added Kara yet - perhaps he’d forgotten which of her surnames to search for? Yeah, he probably wanted to ask Winn what her Facebook address was, or something. He clicked  _ Accept. _

 

_ -Hey Barry. What can I help you with? _

_ -Hi Winn. Not here for tech support! Just wanted to keep in touch, maybe arrange that trip to Central for you. _

_ -Just that? _

_ -...And go through your photo albums because I’m a creep. _

_ -You’re not a creep. Go for it, I have nothing to hide - at least, not on my Facebook. _

_ -Mysterious. I love it. Feel free to return the favour. _

 

Winn hadn’t actually waited for permission before he’d clicked through to Barry’s profile. Now, having glanced down his Wall to check that he wasn’t the type to post annoying game requests every ten minutes, he clicked through to the  _ About  _ page to check when his birthday was. He was out of luck - Barry had quite sensibly hidden his birthday - but something else caught his eye.

 

**_Interested in_ ** _ Men and Women. _

 

_Huh_. He hadn’t been expecting that. Winn didn’t have that section of his profile filled out, mostly because if any journalists - and he worked with a thousand of them - got hold of the idea that his sexuality was anything other than straight, he’d be straight back in the news again as the butt of some debate about whether or not being the Toyman’s son had messed him up somehow.

 

_ -Nice bikini. _

_ -It was a dare! _

_ -It suits you. I love the frills. _

_ -I will find your baby photos and convince James to shuffle them into the layout tomorrow. _

_ -I mean, whichever girl you borrowed it from must have had to get a new one, you really stretched it… _

 

Winn stared at the message in shock for a moment. He knew the photo Barry was referring to, and he also knew that it had left little to the imagination. He’d thought he’d cropped it… He raced over to his own profile to check- no, he had cropped it so it cut off just above his waist.

 

_ -What do you mean? _

_ -Broad shoulders. Found any dirt on me yet? _

_ -No. Squeaky clean, annoyingly. _

_ -So far. What are you working on? _

 

The office was dark and empty around him again, so Winn didn’t see the harm in admitting that he was tweaking one of his side projects. Then, of course, he had to explain what it was, and how it worked, and…

* * *

Winn woke to a hand on his shoulder.

“Wha- get back, I know kung fu!” He turned to find Barry stood behind him, in full Flash gear, looking amused. “Why the outfit?”  _ Why am I in the office before anyone _ , was his next question, but he didn’t think Barry would be able to help him with that.

“Well, you just stopped talking, and I… er, I thought you were in trouble. Then I was coming here to check the personnel files for your address so I could come and save you, and here you were. Guess you just fell asleep, and… I sound really paranoid.”

“Can’t blame you,” Winn admitted, “the superhero gig and all.”

“Yeah.” Barry was staring at him intensely, and Winn began to wonder if he was actually covered in blood or something. There had to be some reason for the scrutiny, surely? “I’m glad you’re-”

 

They both jumped as the elevator began to rumble into life.

“Someone’s here.” Winn grabbed Barry’s hand and began dragging him away from the desk, barely stopping to lock his computer. “Quick. Supply closet. We don’t need anyone else knowing you’re the Flash.”

“Winn, I’ll just get changed really fast-” But Winn had already dragged him into the supply closet and slammed the door shut, locking it.

“Then get changed, but either way we’re in here now.”

 

Barry lowered his hood, but he didn’t seem inclined to get changed just yet, looking around him as if they were somewhere much more interesting than a tiny room piled high with copier paper.

“Oh, wow. This is totally the office sex closet, isn’t it?”

“What? No! Why, what’s Kara told you?”

“Er, nothing, just seems like the kind of place… You’ve, er, done that?”

“I- no- I mean- my ex-girlfriend, sort of, well, I don’t think she considered it dating- she was quite demanding sometimes and she pulled me in here a couple times. It’s not something you do unless you really desperately need someone right now, though.”

“Hm.” Barry was turning bright red, which Winn was sure only matched his own demeanour. Then he laughed. “You pulled me in here.”

“Not for  _ that-  _ God, Barry, don’t tease. You know what, I’ve got to get back to work.”

 

Barry caught at his arm, but Winn shrugged him off and went back to his desk, keeping his eyes firmly on his screen until his cheeks stopped burning. To his relief, when he went to fetch some printer paper, the supply cupboard was devoid of human life.

 

* * *

Winn ignored Barry’s apologetic messages on Facebook. He ignored a lot of things, in fact. The only way he knew how to deal with unrequited feelings was to block the world out for a while, so he did. Kara tried to cheer him up, but she knew he needed his space. James didn’t seem to notice, really.

 

And then Siobhan escaped, and came straight for him.

“Kara Danvers ruined my life! You’re her friend. I’ll keep you, and if it helps me to destroy her, I won’t hesitate to kill you too.” That was all she said to him - or at least, all he caught before she started screaming. He tried to reason with her - hadn’t  _ they _ been friends? Couldn’t he help her to find her way back? - but the banshee that had once been Siobhan was not interested.

 

It didn’t take long for Winn to figure out her plan. She’d teamed up with Livewire and a handful of normal, human criminals again, and while Winn served as bait and tried desperately to think of a way out, Kara would have to fight her way past Livewire alone. At least, that was what he thought until she actually crashed through the window and tackled Siobhan. The screaming began anew and he curled in on himself, hands over his ears and begging incoherently for Kara to get away, for the screaming to stop, for one last chance at his life… Then another pair of hands covered his own over his ears. He felt warm lips against his forehead, moving. He could feel them move to form words, but he couldn’t tell what they were. And then he was moving, moving impossibly fast, held securely in strong arms.

 

“Winn?” The voice he heard when his ears finally stopped ringing wasn’t Kara’s, or Supergirl’s - it didn’t belong to anyone he recognised. But it was a kind voice, a calm voice, and he looked up into warm brown eyes. “It’s Winn, right? God, Barry would not shut up about you. You OK?”

“I’m- yeah- where’s-?”

“Barry left you here to keep you safe while he and Supergirl finish the job. I’m Joe, by the way.”

“Joe West? Barry’s second dad?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that. Welcome to STAR labs. Sorry, the team would say hi but they’re a bit busy.” Sure enough, a small group of people were gathered around a collection of screens, giving instructions and relaying information. Then, suddenly, they fell silent.

 

“Well done, Barry. Tell Supergirl she did a good job- Barry-?” The young guy looked up. “He’s gone, he never leaves that-” That was all Winn heard before the Flash was standing in front of him, hands resting on Winn’s cheeks while he checked him over for damage.

“If you were going to check me out, you could at least be subtle about it,” Winn grumbled.

“Subtle hasn’t got me anywhere with you,” Barry argued, and then his lips were on Winn’s.

 

Winn’s pulse raced, as if Barry was somehow transferring his powers to him; the world around them seemed to slow down until it didn’t even exist any more, and Winn couldn’t help but kiss back, kiss Barry the way he’d wanted to for weeks now. He brought his hands up to rest on Barry’s back, resisting the urge to run them down a little lower and take advantage of that sinfully tight costume. And then, as suddenly as it had started, the kiss was over, leaving Winn disoriented and dizzy, still trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.

“...Winn?” You could have heard a pin drop in the laboratory. He blinked a couple of times and the Flash mask came into focus in front of him. The eyes behind it looked worried. “Uh… was that…  _ too  _ unsubtle?”

 

Winn reached out and pushed the hood back from Barry’s head, revealing his anxious face. He was actually biting his lip. It was too adorable for Winn to stand; he leant in and kissed him again before pulling back to whisper in his ear.

“Can we do this without the audience?”

“Guys, I’m heading home,” Barry said, eyes never leaving Winn’s, and then they were moving again at breakneck speed.

* * *

It seemed like hours before they came up for air, sitting on Barry’s bed all wrapped up in one another.

“Why didn’t you  _ say  _ something?” Winn demanded quietly as they broke apart for a moment.

“I  _ did _ . I didn’t even know if you were into guys, let alone  _ me _ , and then when I tried getting flirty you freaked out. You stopped talking to me when I suggested-”

“I thought you were making fun of me. I thought you realised I- I thought you were laughing at me.”

“I wouldn’t.” Then Barry was running his hands through Winn’s hair, tugging slightly and making Winn gasp even as their mouths met again. It was good. It was a good feeling, especially when Barry moaned and pushed him down into the mattress. “Mind if we take this slow?”

Laughter bubbled up in Winn’s chest and spilled out. Who would make that suggestion while literally straddling somebody? When he could bear to stop kissing him, he nodded. “Yeah. Slow is fine by me.”

* * *

Kara had teased him when she’d found out, but not in a malicious way. She seemed glad he’d recovered from her rejecting him, and he was glad too. It had seemed much worse at the time. Still, he asked her not to tell anyone at the office about his new relationship. It was new, and wonderful, and terrifying, and he was enjoying it too much to risk anyone at the office spoiling it.

 

Of course, that whole plan fell apart when, after a month or so of seeing one another, Barry Allen turned up at the CatCo offices with a smirk on his lips and mischief in his eyes.

“Why do I get the impression you’re going to get me in trouble?” Winn sighed, but allowed Barry to lead the way back towards the lobby. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on when they came to a halt outside the infamous supply closet. “Uh…”

“I just, you know. Someone said something about this being the place for desperately wanting people?”

“Oh, God.”

“Yeah, I was hoping to get you saying that at some point.” 

Winn groaned and dragged his boyfriend into the closet.

“If we get caught-”

“We’ll just run away. Really fast.”

“Well, this might have to  _ be  _ really fast…” 

But Barry had locked the door and was leaning on it with a come-hither smile.

“Just get over here.”

 

Unlike Siobhan, he didn’t grab Winn by his tie and take control, or push him about and treat him roughly. Instead, he stood there, eyes full of promise, and let Winn crush him against the door, hands roaming under his shirt. Things were getting a bit hot and heavy, as Barry gasped for breath and Winn tried to stifle his moans, and Winn was fairly certain that he couldn’t hold back now if Barry wanted more, more than they’d done before. He slipped his hand lower to appreciate that butt he’d first noticed in the Flash costume, Barry arching up against him-

 

There was an authoritative knock at the door.

“Occupied,” Barry bit out, as if this was a bathroom stall at his place of work rather than a cupboard at Winn’s.

“I can hear that, Boris,” came Cat Grant’s voice, and Winn froze, libido well and truly wilted. “However, since this is an office and not a seedy motel, I must demand that you and Witt stop what you are doing and  _ come out of the closet. _ ”

 

The following few minutes were among the most excruciatingly embarrassing of Winn’s entire life. The whole office was smirking - except, of course, Ms Grant, who looked faintly murderous, but no more so than usual. James had declared the looks on their faces ‘priceless’ and whipped out his camera to immortalise it forever.

Barry made up for all of that with one word, whispered in his ear as he left.

“Later.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this fic, you can come and say hi at my fic tumblr, coppicefics. I'll be taking requests for this pairing at some point!


End file.
